GM joins Model Fuels Consortium

Sept. 1, 2007
General Motors is the latest vehicle manufacturer to join the Model Fuels Consortium (MFC), a group that aims to develop, validate, and apply advanced

General Motors is the latest vehicle manufacturer to join the Model Fuels Consortium (MFC), a group that aims to develop, validate, and apply advanced simulation methods to improve engine and fuel design, resulting in increased fuel efficiencies and reduced emissions.

These companies also are members of the MFC: Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, Cummins Engine Co, Dow Chemical Co, Ford Motor Co, Honda, L'Institut Français du Pétrole, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroën, and Toyota.

Launched in 2005 by California firm Reaction Design, the consortium directs the expertise and resources of fuel producers, engine manufacturers, and automakers toward developing model fuels essential to accurate simulation of chemical processes that drive combustion, said Bernie Rosenthal, chief executive officer of Reaction Design.

To manage the ever-expanding range of design options and their inherent tradeoffs, engine and fuel developers have boosted their reliance on combustion simulation, thereby reducing their dependence on costly and increasingly inadequate empirical tests, Rosenthal said.